The Punishment
by lilacflower2
Summary: Rosa moved to America for a better life with her mother and father. 'Haha.' she thought. 'How much more mistaken could I be' She ended up trespassing onto the Sohma property because her dignity and life depended on it. Because she trespassed, she ended up with a punishment from the one and only, head of the Sohma's, Akito. (btw, in this Akito is a he like in the anime...)
1. Prologue

**I will start off by saying that I have only watched the Anime, and while I have heard that in the Manga Akito is actually a girl…I'm sticking with the Anime where she is a guy ^^'**

Prologue

_They're getting closer._ I thought as I ran through the nearby forest. I didn't pay any attention to where I was until I popped out of the forest to find myself in a village-like area. _Oh no, the Sohma residence._ I felt like I had just been given a death sentence. However, when I turned around, I saw the men chasing me were within five meters. _I'd rather die by Sohma._ I thought as I ran farther inside.

"You there." I heard a voice call. It was a powerful voice that could only belong to the head of the residence. "Look at me." I reluctantly turned my head, only to see the men chasing me were closer than ever.

"Sir, I mean no disrespect, but can I hide under your porch a second?"

"Why would you-"

"Thanks!" I yelled as I slid underneath. I watched the men stand just a bit away from Akito, obviously trying to find where I went.

"You three." The men stopped for a moment, then looked straight at Akito. "You do realize I should have you arrested right now for trespassing on the Sohma property, don't you?"

Their faces were struck with horror at the word "Sohma". "I-I-I'm sorry, sir. A…friend of ours was running through the forest and we were just looking for her. Have you happened to see her.?" _Oh no…_ I looked up through the cracks of the porch just in time to make eye contact with Akito's piecing grey-navy.

"No, I have not." _What?_

"Of course, sir. We'll be on our way, now. We apologize for the intrusion." With that the three men left hastily.

"You can come out, now." Akito said as he stood up. I did as told, but gave him a peculiar look.

"Why did you help me?" He froze half way through the door when I asked. I couldn't see his eyes through his dark purple hair.

"Follow me." It wasn't a question. It was a clear command. _Oh great, I'm having to follow a barely grown man inside, and to make matters worse, he's the head of a family. A girl like me has noooo chance._ Even though I thought this, I did as told, but kept myself ready. He seemed pretty scrawny, so I could take him out for just a second; long enough to get out, at least. I sat in the usual way that I had learned about in my Japanese Culture class back in Tennessee.

"Why were those men chasing you?"

"Because I witnessed them mugging another man."

"How old are you?"

I gulped. "Seventeen, sir."

"What do you suppose they would have done to you if I hadn't lied and said I didn't know where you were?"

A tear nearly slipped as I said, "I can only imagine the worst."

"What other reasoning do I need to have helped you?" I looked up at him with my vivid green eyes without thinking. I was in so much shock that he didn't have any other reasoning. That's when it struck me. _Isn't he supposed to be a merciless jerk?_

"If you have a question for me, please ask." I snapped back and looked down again.

"I just, I had heard…so I just…"

"Speak with finish sentences please." He sounded so cold and harsh it sent shivers down my spine.

"I was surprised, that's all. I had heard you were…not the most merciful, so I just expected more, I guess?" I looked up to be sure I hadn't opened my mouth too big, and while he looked angered by my statement, he obviously was using self-control.

"It was good meeting you, Miss…" he looked at me expectantly.

"Miss Gomez."

"Full name?"

"Rosa Marie Gomez, sir. My family is from Mexico, but later moved to America about twenty years ago."

"And why did you end up here?"

"My father found a good paying job where he wouldn't have to be moving almost half a ton of wood every day." I chuckled a bit, remembering how ecstatic he had been about that.

"You are free to go now, Miss Rosa Marie. I have decided that for your punishment of trespassing, you will come back here every day for at least an hour a day until the end of the school year." School was just starting tomorrow for this year, so I could tell this was going to pretty much suck…

"Yes, sir. What time sir?"

"I'll have a driver go and get you after your school hours. During the weekend and on breaks, expect the car around one in the afternoon. Can you deal with that?"

"Yes sir."

"Alright, go on now." I stood and did a small bow, but right before exiting I heard him say, "Also, call me Akito."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It's my first day of school in Japan, so I decided I'd make the perfect first impression by making my eye-lids a vivid green to bring my eyes out further, and I'd curl my dark brown hair. I put half a bottle of moisturizer on so my olive skin would be extremely soft. Yup, I was ready.

I ran out the door with my book bag and a piece of bacon. I could tell the day was going to perfect. The sun was shining, kids were laughing, birds were singing, and it just felt good! That's when I remembered my curse… _Darn you Sohma-_ UMPH! I ran into someone and tumbled backwards.

"I'm sorry, are you alright?" I opened my eyes to see a boy with grey hair and purple eyes. However, he didn't look weird because of it; just…unique.

"Don't apologize to her Yuki! She ran into you." the orange-haired guy said.

"Kyo, don't be so-"

"He's right, I'm sorry." I dusted myself off. I looked at their uniforms before my eyes lit up. "Hey, you guys go to the same school as I do, Kaibara High School!" They gave me a shocked look before finally noticing my uniform.

"Oi, would you look at that?" Kyo stated. "What grade are you in? We three are just now started our third years."

"Cool! I'm a third year. I think…No… Right! Third year. Sorry, I missed half of my junior year in America to come to Japan, so I have to try and remember. Gomen."

"No problem." a girl behind them piped up. I hadn't even noticed her until now. "I'm Tohru, by the way."

"Rosa." I said with a small wave.

"Well, not to ruin the moment of possible friendship forming, but if we don't hurry now, we're all going to be late." Yuki stated matter-of-factly. We all nodded and continued to walk. Once we got to the school, we each found our names on the class chart.

"What a coincidence." Yuki chuckled under his breath. Tohru looked at him funny, so he explained further. "We're all in class 3-A." Her eyes lit up so they almost had suns in them.

"Oh yay! We're going to have so much fun! Oh, what classes are Arisa and Saki in, Yuki?"

"Let me see here…2-A as well."

"Yay! Oh my gosh Rosa, you are going to love them! Arisa is a bit of a tomboy and pretends to be a super tough I-don't-need-anyone kind of person, but it actually super sweet and caring. Saki is a psychic girl who senses electric waves, and even though she seems a bit scary at first, she's also really nice and caring."

"Okay…thanks for the warning?" I said, just a bit confused.

"YUKI!" I heard a group of girls call. They started to surround the poor boy. "Yuki we missed you so much!

"How was your break?"

"Anything interesting happen?"

"Please tell me you didn't get a girlfriend!" They wouldn't leave the poor guy alone.

"Ladies, please. We should all be heading to class. We don't want to be late on the first day, do we?" The girls all looked at him pitifully. I looked him the eyes and I could tell the princely thing was just some BS he put together for chicks like this. _Why not put on some BS myself?_

"Yeah. Besides, don't you know better than to surround another girl's guy?" I said as I squeezed through and linked elbows with him. Now they looked angered, but I only smirked at them. With a hmph, they all walked away to their designated classes.

"Dare I ask?"

"Don't worry, I figured that if you could put up some BS to try to get them away, so could I." I said as I let him go.

"You're pretty different, aren't you?" He obviously wasn't sure what to think of my sassy attitude and confident (slightly arrogant) ways.

"Me? Different? Of course I am." I said as I walked backwards. "Now, race all you guys to the classroom!" With that, Tohru and I bolted for it. Kyo and Yuki, however, stayed back for a second.

"What do you think she'd do if she knew about the curse?" Kyo asked a sheepishly.

"I don't know. She seems like she wouldn't care. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

xxx

During lunch I had finally gotten to meet Arisa and Saki. They were…weird, but I loved them all the same since I'm weird too.

"Oi, looks like we have completed the group. We have the completely selfless Tohru, the tomboy me, the psychic weirdo Saki, and now the sassy girly-girl Rosa! Yeah, that's pretty much from one end of the spectrum to the other." Arisa stated plainly. We all laughed and talked more until the bell rang.

After school I waved good-bye to my new friends and started home.

"Miss Gomez." an almost elderly man called. "Have you forgotten?" _Oh yeah…_

"Right, sorry. I almost had. Haha." I said as I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.

"Rosa, what's with…?" Kyo asked from behind me.

"I-i-it's n-n-nothing."

"Well obviously it's something. You're getting into Akito Sohma's limo!"

"How would you know that?"

"He's the head of our family." Yuki answered for him. "Now can we know?"

"Ah, ah, um…I-I really need to go! Chaio!" I quickly slipped into the limo and closed the door. My heart was pounding a mile a minute. Why did they have to be Sohma's? Why couldn't they be some other Japanese family?

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Gomez." I man said next to me, startling me a bit.

"Uh, hi?" I said nervously. He cracked the world's smallest smile.

"I'm Hatori. Akito doesn't exactly know that I'm here, but I thought I'd warn you that he can be…vicious. Try your very hardest not to anger him."

"Huh? I don't understand."

"It's quite alright, you don't need to completely."

I was about to be my stubborn self and insist he tell me, but arrived at Akito's too soon, only to see him waiting outside.

"So what exactly do I do during my hour here?" I said as I stepped out.

"Do you want the honest or the expected?"

"Well I don't know what to expect, so how about honest?"

"You're naturally intriguing, so I just want you to keep me company."

"Why?"

"Because you're different. Most people are too afraid of me. You however were afraid, yes, but still fearless in a way."

"Wait, so punishing me was just a way to get me to come back?!" He stood up and leaned over me a bit with a smirk.

"And if it was?"

I wouldn't let him know how frickin terrified I was. "Well, I don't know. In a way I'm bit annoyed that you didn't just ask for me to come back, but in a way I think it's nice that even though I trespassed you wanted me back." He narrowed his eyes a bit, but straightened up.

He looked up at the sky before speaking. "That was just an example of what I was talking about earlier." He looked back to me. "You were obviously a bit terrified, but you kept your composure. Also, you don't treat me like I was as high and mighty and people like to think I am. You treat me with a bit more respect than you would treat someone average, but not like I'm an actual God." _And here comes the silence and soul searching. _Even though I knew what he was doing as he searched my eyes, I couldn't get myself to look away. _I never let people search my soul. Why would he be any different?_ Before I could even try coming up with an answer, I heard someone yelling at us.

"Rosa! Get away from him!" I looked over to see Kyo. He was standing with Yuki and some other man in a kimono. My face fell straight to my palm. _Well…this is just great._ I hadn't even realized Akito moved so he was right next to me until I felt an arm go over my shoulder.

"I think she should stay, _cat._" Akito stated plainly, except for when he said cat, he said it with venom.

"Well I think-" Kyo started, but the kimono dude put a hand on his mouth.

"As he was saying, he thinks it just might be better if she go home by now."

"It's okay guys. I'm alright." I stated clearly. Yuki and Kyo both darted a glare at me.

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HE IS CAPABLE OF." they shouted together.

"I do what I am capable of, though, and I am capable of protecting myself." I yelled to them before mumbling to myself, "not that I need to…"

Akito pulled me closer to him just quick enough to make me give a startled shriek. He also tightened his hand on my shoulder just enough to make the clothing come in so it looked like it hurt. "You three should leave now." It wasn't a question. It was a direct command. I still hadn't fully recovered from the sudden pull, so there was a look in my eyes that could have been mistaken as fear, even when it was really "WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?"

"Yes Akito. We'll be going now." kimono dude said as he pulled the two boys away, of course covering their mouths so they wouldn't shout something stupid. It was quite a comical sight, so I chuckled a bit at them. When they saw me chuckle, they stopped fighting back…as much. Once they were gone, though, I got out of Akito's grasp and wacked him upside the head.

"What the heck was that?" He answered me with an odd look.

"Not once has anyone ever wacked me upside the head like that."

"That didn't answer my question!"

"I was just messing with my family's heads. No harm in that." he smirked at me like he was some sort of prankster.

"You know, I should go and tell them I'm alright…" he raised an eyebrow at me. "After my hour is up…" He gave an approving nod. "Now, I have one last question…"

"Yes?"

"They'll most definitely wonder what the heck just happened, so am I allowed to tell them I have been 'punished' for trespassing and all?"

He chuckled a bit. "I suppose." Suddenly his eyes grew wide as if he remembered something. "Oh, I will warn you, in our family, hugs are a sign of severe disrespect. In fact, hugging basically means you want them dead, so just…avoid such." I gave him an odd look.

"Seriously? Uhg, whatever. I won't ask." I rolled my eyes. It's a weird family, so I'll just leave some things be.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Well, you still have…at least twenty minutes, unless you'd like to stay longer." Akito said, shooting me a quick flirtatious grin which I returned with an eye-roll. "I won't steal away more than an hour. So how about I ask a question, you answer, then you ask a question and I answer, and so on so forth?"

"Sounds good. You start or shall I?"

"You've already asked several questions, so I'll start." He thought for a moment, but finally met my gaze again. "What was life like in America?"

"It's definitely different there than here…I was actually considered the chic geek because I love fashion but I'm so dorky in other ways. So I was just kind of the middle person I guess; not popular or bottom-feeder."

"Interesting. In what ways are you 'dorky'?"

"Ah, ah, ah. Not your turn." I said with a wink. "So what is your favorite thing to do? Anything in general."

"Well, since I'm the head of the family, I don't get out much, so I can't really say."

"Seriously? We'll have to fix that during this year, then."

"Well I look forward. Now, my turn. I'm still curious as to how you might be dorky."

"Okay, fiiine." I hopped backwards a bit so I was sitting on the railing. "In America, anime is usual considered dorky unless you're Asain, which I am obviously not, so people made fun of me for that. Also, I love British shows and Sci-Fi. Happy?"

He chuckled a bit. "Very."

"Alright, let's try dragging something embarrassing from you then, shall we? Hmmm…" He gave me a mildly horrified look, but still highly amused. "Oh, I know! What is the absolute 100% most embarrassing thing you have ever done?" He raised an eye brow at me. "Yes, I know that was the easy route." He chuckled.

"Once when I was younger I asked Hatori, who is currently our private doctor, to play with me. He's eight years older than me and at the time was 11, so he didn't want to play any 'kid games'. Instead we played some basketball and the second I stepped onto the court, I slipped and scraped my knee fairly badly and he had to carry me home." I stared at him for a long time in disbelief.

"Wow. You need to get out more." Now he was the one giving an odd look. "I mean, not to seem rude at all, but if _that's_ the most embarrassing thing you can come up with, you really need to experiment more."

He casually looked up to the sky, watching the clouds. To be honest, he looked _really_ cute when he did that. "You must promise never to repeat what I about to tell you to anyone; especially not a Sohma." I nodded in agreement. I was a lot of things, and a good secret-keeper was one of them. "I never really had the childhood a child should have. I became head of the family at a young age and was ill for at least half of it. I never got or get out much because I'm still so frail and unstable from it." He paused a moment before mumbling, "What was I thinking?"

"What are you-"

"You can go now and you don't have to come back." He said as he started for the door. My eyes grew and I instinctively grabbed his arm to turn him around. Sadly, instincts forgot I was on a rail and I fell onto my knees which made this look _really __**weird**_. Okay, flailing my other arm around as I fell also looked weird, but not as weird as being on my knees in front of him. A blush went all over my face and neck as I scrambled to a standing position.

"Alright, that was one of the more awkward ways I've seen girls ask guys not to leave." he teased. I scratched the back of my head.

"Yeah. Instincts didn't like me right then and forgot I was on the railing…" I quickly remembered my point of grabbing him. "Anyways, you think you can get rid me that easy?" He coked an eyebrow. "Dude, you are the head of the Sohma family, not mine. If you think you can just tell me to go and never come back and I'll go away forever you are highly mistaken, dude. I mean, we haven't known each other too terrible long, but you should realize by now that I'm a bit more stubborn that that for subjects like this." He stared at me for a long time, not saying a word. "You know, normal humans at least respond to that sort of thing in some way." That snapped him back. _Finally!_ Oddly enough, he was still speechless, though. He did, however, lean in and peck me on the cheek, causing me to blush a thousand degrees more.

"Good day. I'll have to car bring you over after school tomorrow." He turned and went inside, but this time, I didn't stop him. I just stood there in absolute shock.

"No way!" I heard a little kid's voice yell. I turned to see a boy who looked like a first year of high school. Maybe a bit younger or older. Either way, he looked so adorable. _Wait a second… His uniform is like the girl's at my school only with shorts!_ Okay, so he's a first year in high school…I mean, he couldn't possibly be older.

"You're a real space case aren't you?" he asked innocently. I snapped back and scratched my head awkwardly.

"S-so how much did you see just then?"

"Enough to see the way he trusts you and that he kissed you!" I blushed again.

"Wait, you didn't hear anything, did you?!" _"You must promise never to repeat what I about to tell you to anyone; especially not a Sohma." I'm dead if he heard…_

"No. What was I not supposed to hear?"

"Nothing!" _Phew…Wait a second…_ "Hey, kid, do you know where Yuki and Kyo live? They may or may not be ticked off at Akito for a little trick he played on them since they know me." _Even though he did meet me first…only by a day, but still first._

"Yeah, I'll take you over!" He grabbed my hand and started pulling me over. Once we arrived at a little house, he shouted, "Yuki! Kyo! Shigure!" _Shigure, that must be kimono dude._

"Yes?" all three men said as they poked their heads through the door.

"Rosa!" Only Kyo and Yuki said this now.

"Hey guys. I think I have some-"

"A lot." they corrected.

"Okay….I have _a lot_ of explaining to do."

"Here, let's talk inside." Yuki said politely.

"Okay, thanks for taking me here, kid. What's your name?"

"Momiji! I'm-" He seemed like he caught his tongue, as though there was something he wasn't supposed to say. "Well, I'll see you later!" He quickly ran off towards the village area again.

"What was that about?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing." both boys said just a bit too quickly. I rolled my eyes and stormed into the building. The boys joined me around the table as I explained everything about why I was over at Akito's and why he was pretending to hurt me.

"That little dirt rag…" Kyo said. The boys continued to talk amongst themselves in anger at Akito, so I took this time to properly introduce myself.

"Hi, you must be Shigure, right?"

"That's me. Rosa?"

"Yup. So is this your house?"

"Yeah, it's a fixer-upper, but it's better than living over with the others."

"I heard. What's so bad about Akito? He seems nice enough to me…"

"Exactly; to you. Look, I won't ruin anything for you by telling you how he treats the rest of humanity, but I can only warn you not too search deep." I felt tears pricking at my eyes.

"I've never been good at heading warnings." I stated plainly. Everything fell silent. I felt stares from everyone in the room. It was all the same look. It was pity for what is it come. I felt a turning in my stomach.

"Well, uh, is Tohru here?"

"Yeah, she's upstairs in her room." Kyo answered first.

"She's a Sohma, too?!"

"No, she just doesn't have anywhere else to go. Well, she has her grandfather's home, but her aunt and uncle live with him and they hate her guts basically."

"Oh…well, uh, I'm going to go and, um, talk to her." I stood up and walked upstairs. I finally felt like I could breathe again.

I got all the way up the stairs when I heard a car park in front of the house. I looked out a window to see Akito stepping out. _Why would he be_ here_?_

* * *

Dun, dun DUUUUUN!

Please review ;)


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I decided to be sneaky and listen in from the top of the stairs. I had to know what he was like when he wasn't around me that made people so afraid of him.

"Akito." Yuki said with venom in his voice.

"Good to you as well, Yuki." Akito replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"What do you want?" Kyo spat angrily.

"Well, you and Rosa are in the same class at school, so I was curious as to what she was like other places." There was silence. I swear I would have tried cutting at the air if I had a knife on me since the tension was so thick. "I expect an answer." _Oh, yay, he's stalking me…kind of._ That's when I realized how angry his voice was.

"We won't answer without her okay." There was a loud bang on the table; probably Akito's fist hitting it.

"You _don't_ say no to me." I could almost hear the growling. Fear spread through me as I realized how insane he was.

"No." Kyo said fearlessly. I heard something crash, so I went back down the stairs to see Akito holding Kyo by the collar against a wall. He didn't even notice me until Kyo did. When he saw me, horror filled his eyes and dropped Kyo as he turned his back on him. He began to open his mouth, but finally rage kicked in and I was ready to let it loose.

"Do _not_ say a word." He quickly shut his mouth, ready to listen. "I heard everything, just so you know. So I can now truly say you are the absolute best actor I have _ever_ seen in my entire life because either you are actually really nice or a total bastard and from what I've been getting hints of, it's choice B. I want you to go and leave these poor people alone. Now." He tried opening his mouth again, but I hardened my glare. He got the message. "Also," I started. "I want you to learn how to be nicer. I _might _go back then."

He began speaking before I could stop him. "Rosa, I..."

"Just leave. Now." He obviously fought back the urge to say more, but left wordless. I waited until I saw his car was at least three-fourths of the way back to his house to leave as well. "I'll see you to at school, tell Tohru I said hi."

School the next day just seemed to drag. A lot. I didn't even really listen to the teacher as I spaced out so far I couldn't hear my own thoughts. At lunch, I didn't eat a bite because I just couldn't get myself to eat. After class, I just continued spacing still. I was like a zombie. I walked, I avoided running into people, but there was no real life inside of me.

"Her signals are changing rapidly." Saki stated. Arise and Tohru looked at me worriedly.

"Should I try snapping her back into reality?" Arisa asked. Saki shook her head.

"No, that might throw her off completely. She needs to do this alone."

"Can you tell what it is about, at least?"

"She's angry at someone who she assumed she could trust, but apparently can't, even though she still wants to trust them. She's fighting with herself on the inside so she's spacing to keep from thinking about it. She's purposely separating herself from the world."

"Well, she's kind of starting toward her house. Should we follow her to be sure she doesn't get hit by a car?"

"That might be good." Saki said, having already started walking.

After several minutes, I almost arrived home. However, I couldn't help but snap back when I heard a rustling in the bushes.

"Who's there?" I asked, stepping back a bit. The bushes shook some more before a little blond boy jumped out of them, causing to shriek a bit.

"Momiji! Gosh you scared me!" I said. I had been so spaced out I didn't even realize I was walking the long way that took me in front of their property.

"Ha, ha. Sorry Rosa-chan. I just thought I'd try snapping you back. Everyone is worried."

"Oh, I'm fine, Momiji. Don't worry. I just had an…off day yesterday that I'm trying really hard not to think about."

"Momiji! Why did you run off so- Oh, hi there." a boy with black and why hair said. At first he was annoyed, but once he saw me, his expression softened a bit too much for my taste.

"If you ever talk to me in that tone again I will break you into a thousand pieces." I was serious. There was no waver in my voice and I could feel the terror radiating off of him as he tried to keep his composure.

"Haru-chan! This is Rosa-Chan! She got Akito to be nice and kiss her on the cheek!" I felt anger boil in me at the mention of Akito.

"Uh, Momiji." Haru said as he pointed back at me. I practically had flames surrounding me and veins were almost bursting out of my head.

"Are you okay, Ro-"

"Peachy. If you'll excuse me…" I said, turning on my heel to head back.

"You said she got him to be nice, right?" Haru asked Momiji.

"Yeah, why?"

"What the heck did he do to make her _not_ nice at the mention of him?"


	5. Chapter 4

The next few weeks went by pretty similar to each other. I laughed, talked, and pretending like nothing was wrong. Nobody mentioned Akito and nobody even dared to maybe ask what happened. It was all pretty good until about six weeks into the year.

I had to go through the little outdoor hallway to get to the lunch room since the group and I decided to eat there for once. However, what surprised me was who I saw in the garden area past the beams holding the hallway's roof up.

"Rosa Marie Gomez." A far too familiar voice said from behind me. I paused only for a split second, but continued walking. "Rosa." I walked a bit faster now. "Rosa!" He grabbed my arm and spun me around so I faced him. Sadness filled my eyes as I once again met his. "It's been six weeks. Is it too hard to believe that I actually miss someone?" I scoffed at that last remark.

"I would have thought with the way you treat most people-"

"You aren't most people."

"But I care about people!" Akito froze, so I continued. "If I saw you picking on any random stranger, whether they seemed nice or not, I would _still_ be this mad at you. It just didn't help it was someone I knew."

"I'm s…s…" he was making it out to be like some sort of poison or foreign language he'd never heard of. "I'm s…sorry."

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to. I'm not the entire family you've terrorized for who knows how many years!" He stood silent as I ripped myself from his grip and walked towards the lunch room.

"Hey!- Rosa? You okay?" Arisa asked.

"Peachy." I said as I practically dropped my food onto the table.

"What happened?" Tohru asked.

"It's nothing. Just problems with Akito." I stated calmly as I rubbed my temples. Arisa and Saki looked over-joyed while Tohru looked shocked in fear.

"So who's Akito?" Arisa asked obnoxiously.

"Tohru, you want to take that one? I'm feeling sick at the stomach just thinking about him."

"Uh, uh, w-well….you see…Akito is the uh….head of the uh, Sohma family and uh…"

"Enough said." Saki and Arisa said together.

"So, he's supposed to be a jerk…how did you get mixed up with him?" Arisa asked. Saki on the other hand was obviously searching my 'signals'. I took a deep breath before explaining how I was punished for trespassing and all of that part.

"Wow, that sucks."

"There's more." Saki stated bluntly. _That's why she was checking out my signals…_

"Okay, sorry guys, but I just really can't get into more detail. Plus, there are some things the witness and/or victim shouldn't explain."

"Victim?!" Tohru shouted

"Chill, I wasn't the victim of anything bad."

"Then who was?"

"Look, can't you just trust that I can't tell you?"

"But you obviously need it off your chest!"

"Because I _know_ I can't tell anyone!"

"But we're your friends!"

"That's what the others said too!" As soon as I said it, I put my hands to my mouth. We all calmed down a bit.

"What are you talking about?" Arisa asked a bit more caringly this time.

"They didn't know how different I was, but when they did, they ditched me. I became used to people coming and going that day."

"I'm sorry." Saki said. Tohru was still too shocked. All Tohru could do was launch herself at me into a hug. I became a bit dizzy at the sudden large amount of movement. _Shoot, my medicine!_

"E-excuse me guys. I f-forgot something in the classroom." I started running towards the classroom before they could even question me on anything else. However, the second I opened the door of the classroom, I ran into a little orange haired boy. Naturally, since he's a guy, he reached an arm out to me to try to catch me. To say the least, I was shocked when I found a pile of clothes and an orange cat sitting on me when I fell.

"Dang it." he murmured. I just sat there wide-eyed.

"He's a cat. He's. A. Cat. He's a frickin cat." I right then realized how much he acted like a cat as a human, so I began to laugh. "You're a cat!" I said to him. "Inside and out. Personality and now form too!" I began to roll on the floor laughing…at least, until I started to get dizzy. _Right, medicine._ I went into the classroom and carefully took out the medication.

"What's that for?" he ask curiously as he jumped onto a nearby desk.

"Nothing of importance to you, _cat._" Then it occurred to me. "So are you really a cat or a human who turns into a cat? Also, why are you a cat?!"

"I'll answer your question when you answer mine."

"Fine. I have extremely low blood pressure. Like, scary low. I have to take this so it'll go up again."

"If you forget to take it?"

"I pass out."

"Oh, that's bad."

"Yeah. It just started about four weeks ago. Luckily I was at home when it happened. So, answer my questions now."

"Alright. I'm a human who turns into a cat, and…" He started explaining to me the whole zodiac thing. By the end of the story, he seemed really ticked.

"So…you're not really a zodiac, but in a way you are?"

"Yup."

"So, that's why I can't hug any Sohma's…because one might be a zodiac!"

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, _Akito_ told me it was like, a death wish in your family to hug people."

"Figures…"

It was silent for a moment, so I decided to ask one more question. "So…now that I know the secret, what's going to happen to me?"

"Well, you appear to be on a pedestal for Akito, so I really can't say… He might try to work some sort of deal or something. Who knows."

_~Later in the meeting room at Akito's~_

"So you finally found out, Rosa…" he stated. He walked past Kyo who was in the front and over towards me. He bent down and lifted my head so our eyes could me. He was planning something evil. _Great…just great…_ He stood back up and went in front of Kyo again as he paced back and forth around the room. _He's taunting us._ "I'll let her remember." he finally said. "On one condition." I could sense Kyo's rage at this. He kept silent, just pacing around the room. Why? To taunt Kyo.

"If you're going to tell us the condition would you tell us already?" I said very impatiently. He sent a smirk my way before bringing the rest of him to me.

"You should be thanking me I'm letting you remember under any circumstance."

"I'd have to agree, first. And I won't agree to anything when I don't know what I'm agreeing to." He snickered at me, then bent down so he squatting. He held a hand out, telling me to take it. Reluctantly, I did so. He just quickly enough stood straight so I could feel a small pull as I too was now standing.

"From here on out, you will not skip any visits and you will do everything I say." I immediately thought of the worst thing he could do to me.

"I will listen up to a point. I will not let you go past my morals."

"And your morals are?"

"Well, for people like _you_, no touching me except for my arms, or if I'm feeling nice enough, you can touch my shoulders. Plus no lying, stealing, you know common sense stuff."

"But how is that fair? I have already touched your cheek with my lips." Kyo darted a look at me, so I mouthed 'I'll explain later'.

"I wasn't expecting you to do something like that then. I actually used to trust you. Note: used to. As in past."

"Let's compromise. I also get to touch from the top of your neck and up, and you get to remember. Deal?"

I made a silent prayer before practically grunting, "Deal."


	6. Chapter 5

**Well, you all will be happy to know I am posting ALL of the pics I have made (well, except one...because that would lead to too many spoilers ;) ) of my punishment pics on my profile! (well, the links anyway...) Now, heres ch 5**

Chapter 5

_"Woah, check out the new girl over there." a junior said to his friends. I was a freshman, or as they say, fresh-meat, so I just rolled my eyes at his remark. I walked over to some of my 'friends' and pretended to be listening to them, when I really was eavesdropping._

_"Dude, seriously? She's at least a junior as well. We have no chance." _You idiots have no chance and I'm just a freshman!_ I thought._

_"Worth a shot right?"_ _The other two guys just shrugged and let him start walking over._

_I didn't even turn around. "You can just save your energy. I'm a freshman, I'm not deaf, and I'm saying no right off the spot." I decided now I could turn around so I could get a look at his expression. It was pretty priceless. I cornered a smile, forcing myself not to embarrass him more by rolling on the floor in a fit of laughter._

I woke up and stretched. It was a pleasant memory/dream for a pleasant Saturday morning. I chuckled a bit, remembering how by the end of the year he and I were almost always hanging out and we couldn't even think of being more than friends. Sadly, all happy things must end.

I checked the time to see it was half an hour until _Akito's_ car pulled up. I threw my hair in a ponytail and put on a loose T-shirt and skinny jeans. I had to say, I looked very…normal. Luckily, I was covered up very well and you couldn't even get the full effect of my natural curves. _Score 1 for Rosa, score 0 for Akito._ I wasn't even going to put on any make-up.

The car arrived and I surprised to see Akito stepping out of it and coming towards my house. I opened the door a crack after being sure that the house wasn't a complete mess in case he was planning to come inside.

"Why are you here?" I said through the crack.

"Well, we always stay at my house, so I figured that we could do it here for once."

"Uhhhh…"

"That's an order. Unless you want to forget-"

"Come in." I said as I swung the door all the way open. He smirked in victory as he stepped inside.

"Not very traditional is it?"

"Nope." Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming from upstairs. "Shoot! Mom's awake!" Before I could do anything about it, though, she was downstairs.

"Honey, who is this?"

"This is my, er, _friend_, Akito."

"Why do you sound so skeptical?"

"Well, he's part of that after-school activity thing I was talking to you about. He wanted to come by and talk about it."

"Oh, I see." _Oh god, I know that voice._ "Well, I'll be upstairs." She gave me a small wink just before she turned around. My face became acquainted with my palm once again.

"Well, why don't we go and see your room?" _Okay, Rosa 1, Akito is now at 2. Dang it._

"I DON'T- I mean, er…I just don't really think that's a great idea…"

"Well now I really want to see it."

"Okay, can I at least have up to five minutes before you enter?"

"Why? Are you easily embarrassed around me?" he asked as he pushed some hair from my face. I effectively grabbed his arm and twisted it so I could get him against the wall.

"Don't even do that. Ever. Again." I let him go, but not because I didn't want him to feel more pain. "Now, wait down here five minutes." I ran upstairs and quickly tidied up my room to the point where I could present it.

"Alright, you can come up." I called. He entered my room and his eyes widened. I guess he was shocked that my room had three black walls, a red wall, and my comforter was zebra stripes with red paint splatter. It was actually very punk. I sat down on my bed and looked at him expectantly.

"So are you going to stand there all day or come in?" He chuckled and sat down on the other side of the bed from me.

"Well, this is…not what I expected." I chuckled.

"I get that a lot." I took a look at him and him at me. I sighed in defeat. I decided I'd stop purposely getting sick every time I saw him.

"You win. I'll stop hating you… but I still expect you to be nice to people." I said as I pointed a finger at him.

"Ha ha, deal." It became kind of awkwardly silent for a bit, so I decided to be my sassy self.

"So Einstein, what do we do now?"

"Well, we could try relocating my arm for starters." he said moving his shoulder around.

"Hey, you deserved that!" I said as I scooted closer so I could lightly push him.

"Did I really?" he asked, also scooting closer.

"Yes you did, and if you scoot any closer I'm going to have to dislocate it again!" I exclaimed, completely foiling his evil plans.

We sat there in silence another moment. Suddenly I thought of something.

"Do you like ice cream and waffles?"

"It's been a while since I've had either, so I can't say… Why do you ask?"

"Come on!" I grabbed his hand and began dragging him to the kitchen. I pulled a stool out for him and grabbed one of our big bowls.

"I hope you got a sweet tooth." I said with a wink. I began putting vanilla ice cream and cut up waffles into a bowl, then swirling maple and chocolate syrup in it. I decided to go for some M&M's as well while I was at it. Of course, whip cream on the top.

"It's a heart attack in a bowl." He said once I placed it in front of us. I handed him a spoon with a huge smirk on my face and my own spoon in hand.

"Best heart attack you'll ever eat." With that, I plunged my own spoon into the deadly concoction and moaned at how good it was. Carefully, he placed his own spoon into the ice cream and took a bit.

"Well?" I asked. It probably sounded more like 'wrelsh' though. He chuckled a bit.

"It's…really good." he said before taking another small bite. I finally swallowed all of mine down so I could properly speak.

"Alright dude, hand me the spoon."

"Why?"

"You're eating it all wrong. Hand it over." Reluctantly he handed me his spoon, so I plunged it into the sugar and brought out a whole scoop of ice cream on that one little spoon. "This is how you eat it." I said as I handed it back to him.

"Are you sure you're not trying to kill me?"

"I'm sure. Now go on, eat it!"

He hesitantly did so, but once he stuffed the whole thing in his mouth and sucked on it, he nodded agreeing that I was right. We kept on eating like absolute pigs and talking in some probably foreign language because of our frozen and/or full mouths. Within the hour, the bowl the empty and we were both sick to our stomachs as we lied on the ground.

"That thing is deadly." he groaned.

"Yes, but delicious."

"I never knew I could eat so much at once."

"People don't until they've had this."

"Why did I let you talk me into eating that?"

"Since deep down you really wanted to try to anyway." He couldn't argue with that logic. I set him a smirk as I sat up.

"Yes?"

"Oh, just thinking. For a second I thought about dragging you to an amusement park and making you go on the fastest and most loopiest roller-coaster, but I'll be nice."

"You have an evil mind don't you?"

"Quite so. By the way, time for you to leave. Your car is here." When I motioned to the window, I couldn't help but notice Hatori coming out in the corner of my eye. "What's he doing here?" I decided to let him in and find out.

**Hope you guys enjoyed! Now, go to my profile to see the pictures ;)**


	7. Chapter 6

**I am so sorry T.T I have taken so strangely long to update haven't I? I am sorry T.T (OH! Btw, several people have reviewed on the prologue saying it sounded like this was in america, not japan. If would re-read and tell me if it's a bit confusing and I should play around with it more, that'd be GREAT.) Anyways, thank you all so much for the reviews! If you all would't mind, I'd like to start picking one review to reply to per chapter. Sound fun? :D**

Chapter 6

"Hatori." I said with a pleasant smile as I opened the door to let him in.

"Hello Miss Gomez. I decided to come along to be sure Master Akito has not been…troublesome." I looked over to Akito who had several veins pooping out of his head, so I went over and rubbed his back gently.

"Shhhh. It's okay Akito." I teased. He clenched his jaw and looked away. He was obviously angry, but was controlling himself.

"Miss Gomez, a word?" Hatori called, still at the front door. He walked me outside and closed the door so Akito wouldn't hear.

"How did you do that?" He asked as though I was using witchcraft.

"I'm not afraid of him so he just….I don't know. I guess he just likes me as a person?"

"Right…"he mumbled. "Well, we both should be getting back.

"Awww. So soon? But you just got here!"

"Sorry. Both he and I have a lot of work to do."

"Fiiiiine." I walked in and yelled over, "Akito, time for you to go!" He chuckled as he got up and came over. He quickly glanced at Hatori before back at me.

"Thank you for the wonderful time." With that, he lightly planted a kiss on my lips causing me to turn a thousand degrees warmer and become red as a tomato. He smirked before leaving the house. Hatori also smirked a bit as he turned and walked off.

"H-Hatori! You-You're still wrong! H-he was probably doing that j-just to m-mess with (both) you (and me)!" He waved it off, not even bothering to look at me. "Rich little, kiss stealing, completely annoying jerks…"

xxx

"Hatori! What'd you find?" Kyo asked the tall, mysterious man.

"She has a way with him."

"What kind of way?"

"Well, I could almost see the veins popping out at a snide remark I made…"

"And…?"

"…and she got him to not try to kill me or even say…anything." Kyo's eyes widened.

"Do you think…?"

"They aren't together. However, Akito is dropping hints like a mad man and Rosa…" He paused to chuckle. "Rosa either is really confusing, or isn't completely closed to the idea."

"I didn't think it was possible for a girl not to be completely turned off by him…" Kyo practically breathed out from the shock.

"Don't be so surprised, Kyo. This girl is clearly different. I mean, she laughed after only moments of seeing you in cat form. By the way, does she know Shigure and Yuki plus the others and I…?"

"I don't think so. She only knows that I am."

"Well, I don't see why she shouldn't know. Feel free to tell her if you like."

"Will do. Thank you for the information." He closed the door and went to give the information to the others.

Tohru was the first to speak. "Yay! Akito found a girl! But…"

"But what?" the three said together.

"I don't know. I guess I just thought she'd be a better match for Hatori or someone like him."

"Hatori?!" the three once again yelled at/asked her. Then they thought about it a moment. "Shoot."

xxx

I met up with the Sohma and co the next morning as usual, but this time Yuki and Kyo ran up to me.

"STAY AWAY FROM HATORI!" they both shouted. I looked over at Tohru who just had her head hung low. I looked back at the boys who were panting heavily.

"Um, why?"

Both boys froze and looked at each other before Yuki started, "We're pretty sure ha-bleh bleh bleh." the last part was too quiet for me to hear.

"What?"

"We're pretty sure Hatori….likes…you." Yuki didn't dare meet my eyes. In fact none of them did.

"T-T-Tohru, this is insane right?"

"A-a-actually…I was…er… kind of the one who realized it first." My eyes became wider, if that was even possible. Without even thinking, I began to back away.

"Y-y-you're all c-crazy!" I yelled before running in the opposite direction. I was a straight A student so far, not to mention I'm nice to _everyone_…that isn't insane like Yuki's fans, so the school shouldn't be too mad at me for skipping one day.

After about an hour of running away from where I had been, I stopped to catch my breath. I hadn't even realized I was tired unless I got out all of the energy. Suddenly, I could here and barely see a black car pulling over next to me. Naturally, I went into a defense position, ready to fight whoever walked out of that car. However, I was highly relieved to see it was just Hatori.

"Oh, hi. You scared me."

"I suppose that's understandable. Now, aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"Yeah, but I got into a little fight with some people there so it'd probably be best if I wasn't there today…"

"Right…Well, would you like to go somewhere to get your mind off things?" _Well…this would give me the opportunity to prove Yuki and co they were wrong…_

"That'd be lovely."

xxx

I'm trying to remember exactly how I went from laughing and eating ice cream in a parlor with Hatori to being in an alley with my back pressed to the wall while Hatori has an arm on each side of me.

"H-H-Hatori-san?" I barely squeaked out. _How do I get out of this? OH! He might be cursed! …I can't move. I'm shocked frozen._ I started moving my arms ever so slightly to get myself to stop being frozen, and finally, I made it. I took a deep breath and hugged him, soon the find a pile of clothing and a sea horse in my arms. The awkward part was he was right….there; in that special area that no one should see before marriage.

"He's a sea horse…WAIT! HE'S A SEA HORSE!" I ran into a small restaurant.

"Can I get a Luke-warm glass of water?" I said to the person at the counter.

"Um…okay? that'll be twenty yens." I all but tossed the money at her and she quickly got my water. Once I had my water, I ran into the bathroom with a salt shaker, put some salt in the water, and put Hatori in it. About five minutes later, Hatori became human again, but sadly, his 'stuff' wasn't covered.

My face turned beet red and I quickly turned away, tossing his clothes at him from out of my bag. If I didn't any better, I'd say I heard him laughing quietly at me. About thirty second later, I felt two hands rest themselves on my shoulder. (A/N: I'm not absolutely positive that this wouldn't make him change into the Sea Horse, but I'm pretty sure.)

"Boo." I had just been weirded out by him putting his hand on my shoulders and standing really close, but him saying that pushed me over the edge. I jumped and turned around, finding him standing there shirtless with his hands in his pockets. Many other girls would probably be drooling at the sight, but as a girl with strong beliefs that, unless going swimming, you shouldn't see a guy like that, my eyes were wide and my face was becoming like a thermometer from the blood rushing towards my head. Eventually I had to just force myself to close my eyes so that way my head didn't explode.

_"Rosa…Rosa…Rosa, wake up!"_ My eyes shot open and I noticed we were at the beginning of the road that only goes towards the Sohma village. "Finally. You were getting extremely red and hot after you fell asleep so I thought you might be sick. You seem to be cooling down, though." I blinked my eyes at Hatori a couple of times, wondering how he could be leaning over me so much if we were still in the car. I looked to right away from him for a moment, and in the corner of my eye, I saw his knee. _My head is on Hatori's lap…_ I quickly sat up straight, making sure I couldn't hit him in the face with my skull, and hid my red face in my hands.

"Gomen, gomen, gomen, gomen-" Hatori took my hands and turned my head so I looked at him.

"It's alright. I moved you head so you were more comfortable as you slept." To be quite honest, I hardly noticed him speaking. All I noticed was that his face from centimeters from mine, my chin was cupped in one of his hands, and his other hand had both of mine in it. _Wait…how did I dream he was a sea horse…?_

"Hatori, are you a zodiac?" He gave me an odd look, but nodded. "You won't happen to change into a sea horse…would you?"

"Yes…Why do you ask?" he questioned before letting me go and sitting back. My face turned scarlet as I replied.

"Uh, in my, um, dream I hugged you and you turned into one…"

"That's why you were red and had a fever…" We sat awkwardly a few more moments.

"So Hatori…since I now know you and Kyo are zodiacs, and I'm allowed to know….Would you mind telling me who the other Zodiacs are?" He nodded.

"Yuki is the rat, Shigure is the dog, Haru is the ox, Momiji is the rabbit...Then the others I'm pretty sure you haven't met yet anyways."

"…So I've only met Zodiac Sohma's so far?" He nodded, causing my face to fall onto my palm. "I feel smart," I stated sarcastically.

"You couldn't have really known if you didn't hug them or they tell you, so you shouldn't feel so humiliated."

"Too bad; I feel very humiliated."

"Fair enough. So tell me, what did Kyo and Yuki say to make you run off?" My eyes widened.

"How did you know it was them?"

"I'm a genius, what can I say?"

"Wow. I can sense the humbleness."

He laughed and said, "I know. Now, do you want to tell me what it is?" _Tell Hatori and risk never speaking to him again because people accuse him of liking me, or…I could come up with a clever lie… _Sadly, I thought of nothing.

"W-w-well…th-they k-kind of th-think you might l-like….me…" A huge blush rose to my cheeks as I stared down at my hands, not even bothering to look up as we reached the village.

Without missing a beat, he asked, "What do you get when the snow melts?" I popped up, just an inch. I thought about it only for a moment.

"You get spring, don't you?" I asked as I turned to look at him again. He smirked and leaned in close to me, lightly pecking me on the cheek. _What is with Sohma's and doing that?!_ I thought as I turned into a thermometer again.

"Driver, take Miss Gomez wherever she likes." he commanded, but never looked away from my eyes. He slid a credit card my way and headed out.

"Miss Gomez, are you alright?" the driver asked me. I just kept staring where Hatori's eyes were.

"I'm fine. Would you…There's a park on the corner of Itzmikune and Dorokan. Take me there please?" (A/N I doubt there's actually streets in Japan called those, if there I didn't know. I just wrote the first non-English-sounding names-for streets I thought. xD)

"Yes, Miss Gomez."

When we got there, I told him to pick me up at three and headed off. The place was rather full, but I didn't notice. I just kept walking forward towards the cherry blossom tree on a hill. When I reached it, I read the engraving for the hundredth time.

_"Dearest Maryann,_

_I miss you. I really do._

_With love,_

_Yu"_

It didn't say much. It was hardly readable since it was in a tree. But I loved it. It was so cute and romantic; it made me wish I was Mary. I glided my hand across the message, and I heard an old woman behind me say something.

"What's your name there, girl?" I snapped back from my thoughts.

"I'm Rosa. Who are you?"

She looked towards the message a moment before looking back. "Take a guess." My eyes widened.

"You're Maryann?" She nodded, smiling with such joy as she looked back to the message. She had beautiful silver hair and sapphire blue eyes. "You loved him back, didn't you?"

"He was the best thing I ever had. Sadly, he died in battle, but I never found anyone else I loved near as much as I loved him." I smiled at her while she went off into memories. "So brought you here?" She finally asked. "You look like you should be in school."

"I should be, but life is being…weird. Not to mention I have two guys already falling for me and I haven't lived here three months." I covered my mouth with a hand. "Sorry, too much information." She laughed.

"Don't worry. I was young once as well! Guys fell for me like the wind hits the trees!" I laughed at how fun she was. "Anyways, you'll make it through. Now." She wacked me upside the head with her cane. "You never told me why you're here!"

"Ouch, sorry Ms. Bipolar!" I rubbed my head. "I came here because a couple weeks back I discovered this little message, and being the helpless romantic I am, it just made me feel…happy. I can't really explain it, but it did."

"Well…is it possible you have your own Yu?" I shook my head.

"No way. The only guys who like me right now, besides fan-boys, are a guy that is 28 and another guy who is, well, the head of the Sohma's. Need I say more?"

"No, you don't. Now remember: a heart can change just like the wind. Trees can stop but soon begin. Everything has reason to be. Just keep strong and you will see." Just after she said it, there was a huge gust of wind and the woman became surrounded by blossoms before disappearing. Without even noticing there was anything in it, I opened my hand to see a cherry blossom. It was perfectly pink, not a flaw in it.

"Just keep strong and I will see…I'll see _what?_"


	8. Chapter 7

**I AM SO SORRY! I know you've been waiting almost a month and it's a really mega short chapter...But on the upside, I'm over my writers block :D Again, so sorry .**

I kept passing Hatori in the halls while going to see Akito and I always make sure _not_ to make eye contact. How am I supposed to? The one time I tried, I flashed back to when he kissed my cheek!

_"A heart can change just like the wind." Why does that come to mind?_

I quickly shrugged it off and went over to Akito, but…my mind kept wandering back to that phrase. The more I thought about it, the more I thought about Hatori. The more I thought about Hatori, the more my heart raced.

"…think?" I heard Akito say. I popped a bit, not even realizing he had been talking. I flushed red with embarrassment and looked away. "Are you alright? You've been in and out a lot today."

"I…I just…it's nothing." If I told him…Let's just say Hatori would no longer exist.

"Are sure? I promise you can tell me."

"Yeah, it's just a dumb little tiny thing. I'll get over it soon enough." Suddenly, I began to feel a bit warm. "Is it getting hot in he-ere…" before I could properly finish, Akito had to catch me so my head didn't hit the ground.

I woke up just an hour later in a different room with Hatori sitting at a desk. The second I made the slightest noise, he turned and looked at me, smiling a bit at my flushed face.

"Good afternoon."

"Yeah…wh-where am I?" He smiled again and walked over to me.

"You're in the infirmary. You passed out. Just a fever, though. Nothing too bad."

"Oh-oh…Okay." I forced a small at him before looking down at my feet again, with a cold, hard expression. A large sigh escaped his lips as he wheeled the chair beside me.

"You do realize that I only want for us what you want, correct?" My blush thickened and I looked farther away. He acted so casual about it, as though he wasn't crushing on a school girl.

"I…I don't know what I want, though…Plus, what about you?! AKITO WILL KILL YOU!"

"Let's just say I know a wonderful little American-Mexican girl who is my get-out-of-jail-free card."

"Not even I could save your butt. You of all people should realize that if Akito were to feel threatened by any Sohma that I'd be stolen from him, that Sohma would not exist anymore and any record of them would be destroyed."

"I suppose…Well, speaking of the devil, you should get back to him."

"I'm assuming you meant that completely by the expression for your own good…" He chuckled.

"Of course it was, darling." I blushed a bit and quickly scurried out without another word.

I've gotten so used to going to the Sohma's that when I walked back to Akito's quarters, I didn't even think to knock.

"G-gomen!" I said as I walked in. When I looked up, I saw Akito putting his kimono on over his pants…but shirtless and the kimono was just frozen as we looked at each other in disbelief of what was occurring. "G-g-g-gyah!" I yelled before ducking out of the room.

A few seconds later he called, "Come in."

Cautiously, I opened the door and bowed to him slightly. "Gomen, gomen, gomen, gomen, gomen." He started laughing before lifting my gaze to meet his.

"Relax. It was amusing. I was more so confused about what just occurred."

_I hope that old lady gets her karma soon._ I thought as I felt my cheeks burn. _Least I'm tan._

I took a step back and cleared my throat. "So, erm, what would you like to do?" A lust-filled look went across his face but just an instant later vanished.

"Nothing in particular."

"Well…tomorrow we could go to the festival…?" I began playing with the hem of my shirt as a blush spread over my face. I thanked God I was tan.

"Sounds like fun." he replied bringing my eyes back to him and not my shirt. "I'll see you then." I nodded as I turned red and left.


	9. Festival date

**Hello everyone. So, I've been getting a lot of reviews telling me I should have made have made this longer, more specifically that I should say what happened at the festival. Well, because of all of those reviews, it gave me the pep-talk I needed to write this. Guys, the new Chapter 8 (and if I get enough reviews, I might, just might, have the pep-talk enough to write even more (sorry for all of you who have read the last chapter already. Oh well, least that's the only think spoiled for you. Sorry ^^'))  
**

**Chapter 8:**

The next morning Akito came by driving his own car for once. I smiled helplessly as I walked over the passenger side, my yellow dress (with shorts underneath, just in case) flowing ever so slightly with the breeze. I couldn't get over the fact I was going on a date with, heck, I _asked out_ the head of the Sohma's.

"You look lovely as always." he told me, causing a pink tint to form on my cheeks. I noticed he had on black jeans a dark purple oxford-style shirt.

"Th-thanks. You look pretty good, too." He smirked at my compliment, knowing how bashful I was at the moment. I was actually a bit thankful he didn't say anything, though. He saved me some pride.

xxx

"Akito, welcome to the festival." I told him as we entered the over-populated place. There was dancing and laughing all around and I think Akito was shocked to see so much…joy.

Carefully, I leaned over to him and whispered, "Come on." Without waiting for any sign of response, I grabbed his hand and began to show him around. I bought him an ice cream cone, showed him all the accessory shops. There were a lot, but I think he enjoyed it since every once in a while he'd find a weird hat or something, and I'd get a picture of him in it before we put it back an walked away laughing. (Well, he only chuckled some, but that's pretty good for him.)

"Wait here." he told me when we passed by a shop. Just like I had before, he didn't feel the need to wait. I looked at my now lonely hand and felt fairly…empty. As the minutes went by, I felt colder and even more alone.

"Hey, what about her?" who I assumed to be the leader of a group of three said.

"I don't know man. She's kind of short. Plus, why is she just standing around looking at nothing?" the second guy said.

"Maybe she had a date who ditched her?" the third inquired. The leader looked thoughtful a second before smirking.

"One can only hope." He started to make his way over to me, and I did everything I could to pretend he wasn't. Sadly, he didn't get the message. Luckily, someone amazing can by.

"Rosa." he said in a silky sweet voice as he turned me around. He was merely inches away and I felt my face flush a bright red and he leaned towards me ear to whisper something. "I've made a decision. I won't let any other man even lay a finger on you. You are mine."

My eyes widened before I started to glare and shake in anger. Who the heck does he think he is saying I'm _his_?! "Y-you don't have the right to just claim me! It's supposed to be a mutual agreement!"

He chuckled and, as his response, he kissed the top of my head, only making me angrier. "Come on, at one point you told me to remind you about sunset. Well, look." I looked over and saw the sky turning orange. In a rush of excitement, I grabbed his arm and began pulling him along through the crowds. For one of the few times in my life, I was actually pretty agile in my movements. Soon we reached the building hosting the event and I brought him up to the roof. However, I turned to him just before opening the door.

"Close your eyes."

"What?"

"Close them. Trust me; it's going to be fantastic!" With a sigh, he did as told. Once I was sure he wasn't peeking, I opened the door and took him to the edge of the roof. "Open your eyes."

His eyes flew open and he looked at the beauty around him. The sky was just turning to night, the sparklers just lighting up, the people were buzzing around. It was gorgeous.

"Thank you." he said to me. "It's perfect."

"For what?"

"This." Carefully, he leaned forward and touched his lips to my own. His pale, chilly lips. However, they felt amazing against my own dark, warm ones and I felt myself easing into it further and further. When he finally pulled away, there was a necklace around my neck.

"This is what took me so long earlier."

"T-t-totally fine."

"Good. Though I have one question. Will you, Rosa Marie Gomez, continue to go out with me more often as more than just friends?"

"You mean….you want me as y-…your girlfriend?"

"Yes, I do."

"In that case, yes. I would love to do so. For a long, long time."


End file.
